1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a system for exhausting a plurality of oven cavities arranged within a cooking appliance.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In general, provisions must be made in a cooking appliance for exhausting cooking gases and other byproducts generated in an oven cavity during cooking operations. Often, an oven cavity of a range will be exhausted from beneath a rear one of a plurality of surface heating elements. In other known arrangements, the oven cavity will be vented along a rear control panel. Obviously, due to operation of the oven cavity, the exhaust can have a significant amount of heat. To this end, it is fairly well known to provide a system to cool a domestic oven or the like to prevent the oven gases from escaping to the surrounding environment at too high of a temperature, and especially from impinging upon oven control components arranged in proximity to an exhaust outlet. More specifically, the high temperature exhaust, when caused to flow over the control components, can warp, discolor, and otherwise damage both the aesthetics and operational capabilities of the control components.
Prior art oven arrangements have typically relied upon forced air cooling systems for controlling internal oven temperatures. Such forced air systems have also been used to protect various controls and instruments present in typical oven arrangements. However, all such forced air systems have particular cost and reliability concerns. Specifically, the fan, its motor, and associated control elements add to the expense of the overall appliance and, often times, represent other reliability concerns.
Other prior art systems control the exhaust airflow temperature by combining an incoming or ambient airflow with the exhaust airflow.
Typically, such systems often add the ambient airflow at or near to the oven cavity. Unfortunately, with such an arrangement, the overall cooling effect derived from the ambient airflow on the exhaust gases is minimal. Still other prior art systems do not attempt to employ a cooling system, but rather rely upon mitigating the effects of the exhaust airflow by simply diverting the escaping exhaust gases away from oven control elements.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for an improved cooling system for a cooking appliance. As many of the described problems are exacerbated in cooking appliances including multiple ovens, there exists a particular need for a system which can effectively exhaust gases from a dual oven cooking appliance. In addition, there exists a need for an efficient and compact exhaust system which relies upon natural convection.
In accordance with the present invention, a cooking appliance includes a cabinet, generally defined by upper rear, opposing side wall and back panel portions, and first and second oven cavities. Specifically, the oven cavities are spaced from the back panel portion such that a passageway is established between the oven cavities and the back panel. The appliance further includes an exhaust air box having an exhaust opening arranged about the upper rear portion of the cabinet. In a preferred arrangement, a control panel, including a plurality of control elements, is arranged on the upper rear portion, adjacent to the exhaust air box.
In a preferred form of the present invention, first and second exhaust ducts are arranged within the passage to carry, through a process of natural convection, respective first and second exhaust airflows from the first and second oven cavities to the exhaust air box. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the second duct extends through the first duct. The second duct is extended, such as through the use of an extension sleeve, to directly adjacent exhaust openings of the appliance. Most preferably, the sleeve is positioned in a central zone of the exhaust air box such that the second oven vents out the central zone and the first oven vents out on either side of the central zone. At least the second duct is exposed to a flow of cooling air enabling a certain amount of heat transfer therebetween. In addition, cooling air is also directed about the exhaust air box and exits above the exhaust air box. This airflow establishes a barrier between the hotter exhaust gases and a control panel. An air diverter or deflector is further employed to direct the exhaust gases away from the control panel.
With this arrangement, an effective and economically viable exhaust system is established for a cooking appliance having multiple oven cavities arranged in an overall compact configuration. In any case, additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.